Wrench



(No Model.) 7

L. L. HALL.

WRENGH. V No. 573,651. Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS L. HALL, OF BOURNE, OREGON.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 573,651, dated December 22, 1896.

Application filed July 8, 1896. Serial No. 598,430. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEwIs L. HALL, of Bourne, in the county of Baker and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved Wrench, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a wrench which will be simple, durable, and economic in construction, and wherein the jaws may be conveniently and expeditiously adjusted to and from one another with one hand, and whereby the movable jaw may be locked firmly to the shank of the wrench at any point in the length of the latter.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved wrench. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the stationary j aw and shank of the wrench, the movable jaw and the parts carried thereby being in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a back view of the wrench; and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the sleeve of the movable jaw, the shank of the wrench, and the adj usting-bar, illustrating the locking-link in plan view.

In carrying out the invention the stationary jaw is secured upon the outer end of a shank A, the said shank having teeth 11 in its front edge, and the teeth are preferably upwardly inclined, while the lower end of the shank is usually secured in a handle 12 of any approved type. The sliding jaw 13 is provided with an attached sleeve 14, being a continuation of the under surface of the longitudinal jaw, and the interior longitudinal chamber or bore of the sleeve 14. is extended through the movable jaw, and in cross-section the bore of both the movable jaw and the sleeve will correspond to the cross-sectional shape of the shank A of the wrench, the latter being somewhat square.

The width of the chamber or bore in the movable jaw and its sleeve in direction of the front and the rear is greater than the width of the shank A in the same direction; otherwise the chamber or bore of the sleeve and sliding jaw will engage with the shank. A slot 15 is made at or near the center in both side faces of the sleeve 14, and said slot is likewise continued along the back edge of the said jaw. The slot 15 is provided, preferably, with a straight or horizontal lower wall and an upwardly and rearwardly inclined upper wall, whereby the slot is much wider at the rear than at its forward end, and at the forward end of the outside slot 15 the members of the said slot are connected by a second slot or opening 16, which extends through the sleeve from side to side in front of the toothed portion of the shank A.

At the upper end of the rear portion of the bore in the sleeve 14 and the continuation of the same portion of the said bore in the sliding jaw 13 the back wall of the said bore 01' chamber is given an upward and forward inclination 17, as illustrated particularly in Fig. 2. Between the back of the shank A and the back of the sleeve 14 and the sliding jaw 13 an adj Listing-bar 18 is located, and the upper rear portion of this adj Listing-bar is given a taper corresponding to the inclination of the upper rear walls 17 of the sliding jaw and its sleeve.

At or near the center of the adjusting-bar in its rear edge a recess 19 is made, the top and bottom walls of which are flared, one downwardly and rearwardly and the other upwardly and rearwardly, making the said recess much wider at its rear end or mouth portion, and an opening 20 is made in the back of the sleeve, corresponding in width to the wider portion of the recess'19, as shown also in Fig. 2.

The forward member of the locking-link 21 is passed loosely through the forward slot 16 in the sleeve, and this member of the locking-link is provided with teeth adapted for engagement with the teeth on the shank of the wrench, and when such engagement is made the sleeve 14: and connected lower jaw cannot have movement in a downwardly direction, but may have movement in an upthe locking-link is given the upward inclina- IOO tion shown in Figs. 1 and 2, its forward member will be brought in locking engagement with the teeth on the shank of the wrench, but when the said locking-link drops to the horizontal position, or in engagement with the bottom wall of the opening 15 in the sleeve, the toothed section of the locking-link will be freed from engagement with the toothed surface of the shank of the wrench, and the sleeve ll and its connected jaw 13 maybe freely slid up and down the said shank. The lockinglink is given its upward or locking position by the upward movement of the adj usting-bar 1S, and this movement is preferably accomplished by locating a lever 22 at the lower rear portion of the sleeve 14:, which is open, as shown at 22 in Fig. 3, the pivot-pin 23 of the lever being near its inner or upper end, and the lower portion of the lever, which extends below the sleeve 14, is preferably flattened, so that it may be readily pressed by the thumb of the hand in which the wrench is held.

The upper end of the lever 22 is beveled upon each side, and when the lever is carried to a substantially parallel position with the shank, as shown in positive lines in Figs. 1 and 2, the adjusting-bar will be pushed upward and held in its upper position, thereby locking the sleeve and jaw carried thereby to the shank of the wrench, and when the lever 22 is carried upward, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the adjusting-bar will drop downward and the locking-link will drop with it.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a wrench, a toothed shank provided with a fixed jaw, a sleeve held to slide on the said shank and connected with the movable jaw, a locking device pivoted in the said sleeve and having a toothed surface arranged for engagement with the corresponding surface of the shank, and a lever-controlled adjusting device engaging with the locking device for the purpose of imparting movement thereto, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a wrench, the combination, with a toothed shank having a fixed jaw, of a jaw mounted to slide on the shank and provided with an attached sleeve, a link having rocking movement around the shank, a portion of the locking-link being toothed for engagement with the toothed surface of the shank, the said link moving with the movable jaw, an adjusting-bar receiving a portion of the link and mounted to slide within the opening of the movable jaw, and a device for raising and lowering the aforesaid adjusting-bar, as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a wrench, the combination, with a toothed shank and the fixed jaw of the same, of a sliding jaw, a link surrounding the shank and having rocking movement in the sliding jaw, a member of the said link being toothed for engagement with the toothed surface of the aforesaid shank, an adj Listing-bar held to slide between the movable j awand the said shank, a connection between the lockinglink and the adj Listing-bar, whereby the two move together, and a lever arranged to impart movement to the adjusting-bar, as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a wrench, the combination, with a toothed shank, a jaw fixed to the shank, a second jaw held to slide on the shank, and a sleeve connected with the movable jaw, a space intervening the rear wall of the movable jaw and sleeve and corresponding wall of the shank, the upper portion of the rear wall of the movable jaw being inclined, of a locking-bar extending around the shank and fulcrumed in the forward portion of the said sleeve, the fulcrum member of the lockingbar being toothed for engagement with the teeth on the shank, an adjusting-bar having a wedge action and mounted to slide between the rear of the movable jaw and its sleeve and the rear of the said shank, and a connection between the locking-bar and adjustingbar, whereby the two move together, and a device for imparting movement to the adjustingbar, as specified.

LEIVIS L. HALL. lVitnesses JOHN H. CLARK,- GEo. IV. HALL. 

